Clothes-drying rack.



A. D. SMITH.

CLOTHES DRYING RACK.

APPLICATlON FILED MAR. as. 1915.

Patented July 18, 1916.

Inventor:

J TED sTATESPATE FFTQ ARTHUR D. SMITH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A SSIGNOR TO C. S. M. COMPANY, INC., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

CLOTHES-DRYING. RACK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 18, 1916.

Application filed March 13, 1915. Serial No. 14,077.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR D. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at the borough of Manhattan, in the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clothes-Drying Racks, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof.

My invention relates to clothes drying racks and more particularly to a type thereof wherein the arms of the rack are capable of being folded together when not in use. I By my invention, 1 provide a clothes drying rack composed of a plurality of independent units each consisting of'an arm and a frame to which said arm is pivotally connected before being assembled in the completed apparatus. By this construction each unit is like every other unit, and the manufacturing cost is not only low but'the assembling of the machine is simplified in that no fitting or finishing is required beyond the mere connection of the arms to a support by means of which the rack is mounted in the desired position upon a wall. The frame for each arm is so constructed that when the arm is raised, it will be frictionally engaged by the sides of the frame and held in position thereby; and the means connecting the various arms with the support are so disposed as to engage the inner end of any arm when it is extended and thus hold said arm when it is in use. By utilizing semicircular connecting rods passing through the various frames and having their ends connected to the support, the desired divergence of the said frames is secured, each frame being so constructed as to insure permanency in the fan-like arrangement of the frames.

The invention consists primarily in a clothes drying rack embodying therein a support, a plurality of independent frames, an arm pivotally mounted in each of said frames, and a plurality of curved rods passing through all of said frames at widely separated points, the ends of said rods being connected with said support; and in such other novel features of construction and combination of parts as are hereinafter set forth and described and more particularly pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a rack embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a back view thereof; Fig. 3 is a plan view thereof; Fig. t is a detail view in perspective of one of the arm supporting frames; Fig. 5 is a vertical section through one of said frames showing the suitable openings therethrough to facilitate the mounting of the support upon a wall by means of nails or screws as desired. The sides of each of said sections a-b are so formed-as to leave the desired contact surface adjacent the screw opening therein, while permitting the attachment of the arms thereto by means projecting beyond the surface of said ends. This support is made in two sections for the purpose of reducingthe metal stock required in, as well as the'weight of, the article. Mounted upon said support are a plurality of rack arm units each of ,which includes a metallic frame and a rack arm pivotally mounted therein. Each of these units'is'like every other unit in construction and dimensions, and a description of but one of them will, therefore, be entered into.

The frame 0 of each unit consists of a metal channel piece havin parallel side walls de spaced apart su ciently to receive the rack arm f. The sides cl-e are preferably deeper toward the bottom thereof than at the top and are'pie'rced adjacent the top and bottom thereof at g'g to facilitate the mounting of the frame upon the support ab and at g to facilitate the mounting of the arm f therein. The arm f which is preferably made of wood, is pivotally mounted between the sides Z,e preferably by means of a hollow rivet "f, passing through the openings 9 thesaid sides in riveting, being drawn fairly tightly upon the said arm in order to bring said sides de into frictional engagement with said arm. The point of pivotal support for the arm is distanced sufficiently from the end thereof to bring said end when the arm is brought rod 2' with relation to the point of pivotal similar semi-circular rods h and z', the ends of which respectively are secured to the section a and the section b of the main support. I have found that by screwthread1ng the encts of these rods and connecting them to said support sections by means of nuts,

the said rods may be drawn toward the base sufficiently to insure the required rigidity in the assembled structure. lhe curvature of the rods ]Li will give a fan-like arrangement to the channels 0, the bottom of which will abut against each other and against the support section a-b. To, prevent the said channels moving upon the rods h-z', 1 provide the side walls d@ of each channel with outwardly extending nubs j y" adapted to abut against each other adjacent the said rods.

The openings 9 in each frame are located sufficiently above the rivet f and toward the bottom of the channel 0 to so position the support of the frame 7, as to cause said rod to act as a stop for limiting downward movement of said arm and hold it firmly in the open position.

When the rack is in use, any or all of the arms may be swung downwardly as shown in Figs. 1 and 8, the upper end thereof projecting outwardly in a room and the inner ends thereof swinging between the sides cZ-e with the top edge thereof abutting against the rod 2', which rod acts as a stop common to all of the arms in the rack. l/Vhen' the device is not in use, the arms may be all swung upwardly as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5, the arrangement of the pivot f being such as to give the arms a backward tilt so as to prevent their accidentally dropping into the open position. Furthermore, when the arms are raised they will pass between the outer edges of the sides (Ze which will have a tendency to frictionally engage same and hold them in the raised position.

The support ab may be attached in any desired position upon a wall or other support, the arrangement thereof being such as to facilitate its attachment to a support. lVhile I have shown and described this support as being composed of two sections, it is not my intention to limit the invention to this particular arrangement as any support to which the rods h. may be connected may be employed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

While the rods hz are described as having screwthreaded ends and being connected to the main support by means of nuts, this is not essential to the invention but merely a convenient manner of assembling the device without the necessity for coir structing special jigs and tools therefor. Other means for securingsaid rods in relation to the main support may be employed, however.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to have protected by Letters Patent is 1. A clothes drying rack embodying therein a support and a plurality of rack arm said channel piece and means positioned within each of said channel pieces adjacent the pivotal support of the arm carried there by, the inner end of said arm being adapted to engage the under side of said means.

2. A clothes drying rack embodying therein a support and a plurality of rack arm units mounted upon said support each unit comprising a metal channel piece having substantially parallel side walls and a rack arm mounted between the sides of said channel piece by means of a rivet passing through the sides of said channel piece and an opening in said arm spaced away from the end thereof whereby said arm is connected directly with and supported directly from said channel piece and means positioned within each of said channel pieces adjacent the pivotal support of the arm carried thereby, the inner end of said arm being adapted to engage the under side of said means, each of said channel pieces being provided with abutments adapted to engage the abutment on adj acent channel pieces and prevent movement of said channel pieces relatively to each other.

3. A clothes drying rack embodying therein a support, a plurality of independent frames, a plurality of curved rods passing through all of said frames having their ends secured to said support whereby said frames are divergently extended from said support, said rods respectively being arranged adjacent the top and the bottom of said frames, and an arm mounted in each of said frames by means of a pivot passing through said frames below and in advance of the lowermost of said rods and spaced away from the end of said arm whereby the end of said arm is adapted to engage the under side of the lowermost of said rods.

4-. A clothes drying rack embodying therein a support, a plurality of independent frames, a plurality of curved rods passing through all of Said frames having their frames are dive'rgently extended from said support, said rods respectively being arranged adjacent the top and the bottom of said frames, and an arm mounted in each of said frames by means of a pivot passing through said frames and in advance of the lowermost of said rods and spaced away from the end of said arm whereby the end of said arm is adapted to engage the under side of the lowermost of said rods, each of said frames being provided with abutments adapted to engagethe abutment on adjacent frames and prevent movement of said frames upon said rods.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto affixed 15 my signature in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses, this 10th day of March,

ARTHUR D. SMITH. i/Vitnesses:

JUDITH PARDEE, CLARIoE FRANCE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Iatents, Washington, D. G. 

